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Thursday, February 27, 2014

It's pretty amazing that our society has reached a point where the effort necessary to extract oil from the ground, ship it to a refinery, turn it into plastic, shape it appropriately, truck it to a store, buy it, and bring it home is considered to be less effort than what it takes to just wash the spoon when you're done with it.

Don't get stuck using disposable plasticware, always be prepared. I carry a To-Go Ware bamboo set and a Life Without Plastic spork with me. If for some reason I don't have my reusable utensils on hand, I make sure to grab foods that can be eaten without utensils or choose foods that can be used as utensils (chips, crackers, carrots, cucumbers, etc.).

Monday, February 24, 2014

On Sunday, as I drove to Wrightsville Beach to do a quick cleanup before taking my son to his hip hop class, I thought I knew what I was getting into. Well, I was wrong. While getting onto the island was a breeze, there was loads of outbound traffic and the beach was still packed (ok, packed for February)!! Apparently, I forgot that it was UNCW homecoming weekend.

I haven't seen major crowds at the beach in such a long time that the sight was a bit overwhelming at first. Where to walk? Which way to go? Does that belong to someone or was it left behind? There are so many more variables to contend with when people have their chairs, toys and blankets laid out. Not to mention the larger groups playing various beach games (like volleyball and bocce ball). It's a lot to weave through while searching the sand for what doesn't belong.

It's hard not to start thinking about summer and what the litter problem will be like with the increased number of visitors to our beach. I wish there was a way to reach those people before they arrive. A way to connect our love for the beach and ocean to an understanding and commitment to care for it... even in the midst of getting lost in what it means to be at the beach.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

This afternoon, my youngest and I walked all around access 43 wrapping around to where Banks Channel and Shinn Creek meet. There on the shore of Banks Channel, we stopped to watch a pod of dolphins until they disappeared from sight. A beautiful reminder of one of the many reasons we do our best to help protect our oceans and beaches.

My youngest was just 4 years old when I started this project and this July he'll turn 8. He's grown up so much... and over these past years has been part of creating a major MAJOR change in our community. And while he may not know how big of a role he played, he is seeing first hand the difference that has been made.

He remembers when picking up littered cigarette butts on the beach was never ending.... when we would just sit down and pick up hundreds. I remember it all too well, but there is no better jog of the memory than looking back on beach cleanups from years past.(Reference: February 2011 and February 2012). With the passing of the Wrightsville Beach smoke-free beach ordinance... those days seem to be behind us. Sure, there are still people who smoke on the beach, but it seems that they are few and far between. Case in point, today we only picked up 12.

And while the dolphins serve as a beautiful reminder as to why we do our best to help protect and cleanup our world; the reduction in the amount of cigarette butts we're finding serves as a reminder as to what can happen when we take action because we believe we can make a difference.

“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”

Thursday, February 20, 2014

We were supposed to go on a field trip today to Durham, but I couldn't force myself to leave the beach. Museums aren't going anywhere, but true beach days in February are limited... so I changed our plans and my kids and I spent the early afternoon at Wrightsville Beach.

As I was turning my daughter into a mermaid, I realized she was wearing her "Little Mermaid" t-shirt... which reminded me of this billboard I saw so many years ago. Created to raise awareness among children-- and in turn all Americans-- about the health of the ocean.

Life in the ocean depends on us keeping it clean. So what are some simple things we can all do?

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Well, it happened again. Our normally mild winter area received another bout of ice. The trees bent and broke, leaving Wilmington looking like a hurricane had blown through. But thankfully, all is well... and it's back to the beach!

While I haven't done as many beach cleanups as I had hoped to at this point, I have done what I could. These winter beach cleanups have been so different than previous years. More often than not, I think: "it's so clean". And not the deceiving kind of clean... like I look and I look and I look... scanning the sand for litter... and there's just not much to find.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

So often, these beach cleanups hinge on the weather. Just days prior to this beach cleanup, my area was blanketed in snow and ice. A rarity for sure, especially considering there was so much ice on the streets that my neighbor and I ice skated down the middle of our street. I wanted to go to Wrightsville Beach and see it white with snow and ice, but I decided it was safer and held out for the weekend and warmth that came with it.

72 degrees meant that the beach was busy with activity. Everyone of us grateful from the reprieve from cold weather. Lured by the tide pools and exposed pylons, we ran, jumped and played on nature's playground. And while we, of course, did a beach cleanup... there was little to pick up.

A perfect way to start February. The kind of day that you don't want to end.

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Our Daily Ocean

Cigarette butts are the #1 littered item worldwide... my local beach-- Wrightsville Beach, NC-- is no exception. With inspiration from my friend Sara who writes The Daily Ocean blog, I've started my own daily ocean. I'll head out to WB at varying beach accesses and pick up litter for 20 minutes.

My focus? Cigarette butts.

My mission? To help create a smoke-free beach and have proper cigarette butt disposal receptacles installed on WB became a reality! WB is the first smoke-free beach in NC!

The Daily Ocean Cigarette Count

For the next 100 beach cleanups, my friend Sara who writes The Daily Ocean blog will be counting and tallying the number of cigarette butts she finds during her 20 minute beach clean ups in Santa Monica-- a SMOKE-FREE beach.

We're comparing a smoke-free beach (Santa Monica) to a beach with no smoking ban (Wrightsville Beach). We hope to answer the question: